Workers ratified a three-year contract with IMI Cornelius on Oct. 22, ending their six-week strike against the manufacturer of soft-drink dispensing machines.
'We're back at work but not real happy,' said Jerry Cramblitt, president of Local 15199, United Steel Workers of America. The contract addresses, but does not eliminate, two key issues in the strike: a two-tier wage structure and the company contribution toward health insurance.
All workers will receive yearly raises of at least 40 cents an hour, Cramblitt said. Workers hired since 1988 will receive an extra 15 cents an hour in years one and two, narrowing a gap that ranged from $0.76 and $1.70 per hour.
The company will also increase its share of health premiums to 65 percent in the first two years, Cramblitt said. However, workers will pay more out-of-pocket costs for doctor visits and prescriptions, and the company will be able to cap its health insurance contribution if costs rise dramatically.
The new contract was approved by a roughly 2-1 margin, Cramblitt said, but the vote took place before the union received notification about annual force reductions. Though the seasonal layoff of 32 workers is not as deep as usual, he said, the company has implemented classification reductions inside the plant on a far broader scale than usual.
The action reduces the job classifications and wages of nearly 50 workers, Cramblitt said. Though such reductions typically are temporary, this time they include eliminating an entire job category - master assembler, Cramblitt said. That will cut wages for 10 employees by about $2 an hour and save the company $40,000 a year, he said.
'There's a sense that it's retaliation for the strike and that we're paying for our own raises,' Cramblitt said. In addition, the company is balking about paying health premiums for laid-off workers, he said. The union's unfair labor practice charge against IMI Cornelius, which precipitated the strike, remains open.
This article was written for the Nov. 1 issue of The Union Advocate newspaper. Used by permission. The Union Advocate is the official publication of the St. Paul Trades and Labor Assembly. E-mail The Advocate at: advocate@mtn.org
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Workers ratified a three-year contract with IMI Cornelius on Oct. 22, ending their six-week strike against the manufacturer of soft-drink dispensing machines.
‘We’re back at work but not real happy,’ said Jerry Cramblitt, president of Local 15199, United Steel Workers of America. The contract addresses, but does not eliminate, two key issues in the strike: a two-tier wage structure and the company contribution toward health insurance.
All workers will receive yearly raises of at least 40 cents an hour, Cramblitt said. Workers hired since 1988 will receive an extra 15 cents an hour in years one and two, narrowing a gap that ranged from $0.76 and $1.70 per hour.
The company will also increase its share of health premiums to 65 percent in the first two years, Cramblitt said. However, workers will pay more out-of-pocket costs for doctor visits and prescriptions, and the company will be able to cap its health insurance contribution if costs rise dramatically.
The new contract was approved by a roughly 2-1 margin, Cramblitt said, but the vote took place before the union received notification about annual force reductions. Though the seasonal layoff of 32 workers is not as deep as usual, he said, the company has implemented classification reductions inside the plant on a far broader scale than usual.
The action reduces the job classifications and wages of nearly 50 workers, Cramblitt said. Though such reductions typically are temporary, this time they include eliminating an entire job category – master assembler, Cramblitt said. That will cut wages for 10 employees by about $2 an hour and save the company $40,000 a year, he said.
‘There’s a sense that it’s retaliation for the strike and that we’re paying for our own raises,’ Cramblitt said. In addition, the company is balking about paying health premiums for laid-off workers, he said. The union’s unfair labor practice charge against IMI Cornelius, which precipitated the strike, remains open.
This article was written for the Nov. 1 issue of The Union Advocate newspaper. Used by permission. The Union Advocate is the official publication of the St. Paul Trades and Labor Assembly. E-mail The Advocate at: advocate@mtn.org